It’s that time of year once again! This year’s theme: “Mo-rockin’ Christmas” (and for those of you who aren’t good at reading puns, the first chunk is a homophone for “Moroccan”). There were only two ingredients per person this year, but there was the added challenge that each dish was required to incorporate red or green (or both).

My foodie group had another Foodie Challenge! Like last time, we drew ingredients and courses randomly. To add to the challenge, however, this time we drew three ingredients instead of two. It was way more challenging (we all made the maximum of two dishes each!), but the results were simply spectacular! We all agreed that this one was even better than the last.

My foodie group had a dinner last night at my place! We each drew courses randomly, as well as two ingredients from those we had submitted. Some of the ingredient combinations were really tough, but I was incredibly impressed with what we turned up! Each dish was sensational, so it’s hard to pick a winner, but for sheer audacity I think Jordan gets serious props for finding a dessert that used green peas. Here are the results of our culinary efforts:

December 23rd was the third annual Chopped Night at the Van Spronsens’ house! (In case you’re not familiar with the idea, each family member is given three ingredients and a course, and must make a dish appropriate to that course that uses all three ingredients.)

This year we all had to bring our A-game, because there were three additional challenges to make the evening that much more special:

We had a theme! This year’s theme was Italian.

We were each given four special ingredients to use in each dish instead of three.

We were asked to provide a drink pairing with each course.

It ended up being a tremendous success! Here are the culinary creations our family came up with:

Salad (Jon)

Falafel with Harissa Tahini Smear

Pepper: Chillies

Falafel made with kale and pepper flakes served on a romaine leaf with sliced cucumber, accompanied by a smear of tahini lemon harissa paste.

Dessert (Jon)

Poached Pear with Chocolate & Peppered Crème Fraîche

Pepper: Black Peppercorn

Okay, I’ll admit it: I stole this idea from Matt. I did change it around a bit, though. Vanilla-poached pear with milk chocolate spread and cinnamon pepper crème fraîche, polished by maraschino cherries on top.

What a tremendous surprise this festival was! It was great to finally enjoy some interesting quality culture from Nanaimo. This has been one of the first times I’ve really felt like people have taken care, which means a lot to me.

There were so many choices of what to eat and drink, so I had to be picky. I’m sure I ate more than I should have, but I’m glad I know a bit more about which restaurants to try and which not to try. Basically, you buy tickets at the door, worth $1 apiece, and each menu item is between 1 and 4 tickets. Here are the things I tried:

Appetizers

Clam & Scallop Chowder (Landlubber Pub)

Brilliant flavour. Not too salty and no old-fish taste. And it was free, to boot. (7/10)

Bruschetta (Landlubber Pub)

Nice prerequisite drizzle of balsamic reduction. Great presentation and generous portion, but had this odd eggy taste to it. (3/10)

Entrées

Tuna Tataki (Cactus Club Cafe)

You’ve all had it, and you all love it. Not much more to say. Crisp greens and citrus glaze as good as ever, and presentation was impressive, considering the disposable dishes. One of the best dishes of the night. (9/10)

Sesame-Crusted Halibut with Shiitake Vinaigrette (Lighthouse Bistro)

Excellently done. Nice presentation, perfect texture, brilliant sesame flavour, and served on an Asian noodle slaw. Mushrooms and vinaigrette worked well to balance out the sesame. The surprise hit of the night for me. (8/10)

Coconut Panko Prawns with Blackberry Artisan Salad (Millstone Eatery)

I really liked the coconut in the prawn batter. They could’ve easily overdone the coconut flavour but didn’t; it was very subtle. Made to order, too, which I appreciated. My only suggestion would be to add some sort of glaze or crema to the prawns because they were fairly dry. Salad was average. (6/10)

Crab Dog (Corner Bistro)

I have to give these guys props for sourcing locally and for inventing such an interesting combination of ingredients! However, this dish didn’t quite work. The bun was terrific, as it had just been baked, and the julienned beet was a nice touch, but the crab itself was in a mayonnaise-type dressing that overwhelmed the taste of the crab for me. I think with a few tweaks this recipe could be sensational. (5/10)

Desserts

Their booth was set up like a French pâtisserie, with baskets of breads all over and a fantastic line painting of a French boulangerie in the background. The students didn’t seem to know much about what the desserts they were serving, but they were fundraising for a trip to Paris for pastry classes, so I’m sure they’ll figure out soon enough! The macaron was the hit of the night. The pain au chocolat could have used a little less “pain” and a bit more “chocolat”, but was still good, and flaky without being dry. The profiterole was delicious, though I usually prefer more of a whip filling to a pudding like they had. Picky point, though. (7/10)

Pumpkin Spice Tiramisu with Dulce de Leche Drizzle (Millstone Eatery)

It was a little too fresh, as the coffee in the middle made it a bit watery. However, the flavour was fantastic (and ingenious) and they were generous with their caramel. (7/10)

Drinks

Open 2007 Cabernet Merlot (TheatreOne)

I don’t usually like reds, as you know, but both the whites they had were wines I knew I hated, so I tried the Cab Merlot. It was pretty good for a red! Most reds are far too dry for me, or have too many tannins or are too bitter. This wasn’t, which probably means it’s a terrible wine to the connoisseur. But I thought it wasn’t bad. Since it’s so hard to make me like a red, I’m rating this one highly. (8/10)

Goji Açai Green Tea (Winston’s Tea Co.)

Delicious. I expected high acidity and was surprised at how delicate it was. Flavourful but not overwhelmingly. A great way to finish the evening. (8/10)

Recently I discovered this phenomenal side: Yams with Brown Butter Vinaigrette. It was amazing and really simple. Actually, just make the brown butter, and make the yams however you want.

I would use slightly less actual butter than they did; maybe 1/3 cup instead of half. I’ve also tried with onions instead of shallots; it worked, but it wasn’t quite as interesting. Apple cider vinegar works great when you don’t have red wine vinegar.

We didn’t have the full 50 minutes to get the yams done, so we just quartered them, poked them all over with a fork, roasted them for 30 minutes or so in the oven, sliced them, and poured the brown butter over-top. Yum!

Continuing the risotto theme, I made a fantastic risotto (epicurious, of course) and I felt I should post the recipe here. I paired it with black bean chicken with asiago and asparagus (i.e. contents of fridge).

Some comments:

Some of the commenters suggested roasting the squash first. This is a very good idea. I used two acorn squashes (ended up with a half left over), scooped out the seeds, drizzled some olive oil, and baked it at 400F for an hour or so. It made the squash soften, which helped it cook more easily, and I think it added some great flavour. I think next time I’ll just go with one large butternut, though.

Another brilliant commenter suggestion is to forego adding the butter at the end. It really doesn’t need it. You might be able to use veggie stock and forego the pancetta if you wanted to make it vegan. The squash and wine make it pretty flavourful. The pancetta is delightful, though.

I used red wine (hence the colour), simply because I didn’t want to open the white and my red was almost gone. I thought the red wine and red meat worked well together, but I’ll leave that call to the oenophiles of the family (everyone but me).

Well, it’s official. I’ve now worked at the pizza place for a year, and it’s no secret to my coworkers that I often opt for the truffle cream as a sauce for my pizza each week. Fortunately, it’s quite easy to make. It’s pretty decadent, though, so I try to have other sauces every once in a while.

Sauté the mushrooms in a pot in olive oil on medium heat, until tender. Drain any extra oil. Return to the heat. Add the cream and stir. Whisk in a tablespoon or so of flour until the cream starts to thicken (5-10 minutes should be good; add extra flour if necessary). Remove from the heat. Use an immersion blender or food processor to thicken the mixture and lightly pulverise the mushrooms. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Stir in the truffle oil. Refrigerate until use. Makes a LOT.

As we all have recently witnessed at our family gathering, dry-brining an eggplant makes a world of difference in the flavour of an eggplant (for the better!), and there has been some question as to how to do it. It’s simple, really:

Cut the eggplant into four or eight large chunks. You can peel it if you like (I usually do, unless the recipe says not to).

Put the chunks into a colander. Cover them completely with salt.

Let them sit for half an hour. The salt will draw out all the bitterness into a brown liquid that comes out of the bottom of the colander. (I’m sure there’s a use for this eau d’aubergine, but I haven’t found one yet.)

Rinse off all the salt, and prepare the eggplant as usual (pan-fry, grill, bake, etc.)

Matt and I were inspired by a recent dinner at Mis Trucos (in the West End) to create our own tapas meal. Everything turned out so well, except for the braised artichoke. What a disaster that was. Next time, I’ll youtube how to properly butcher one of those things.
However, the lovely bottle of Barbaresco and a Negroni helped to ease the pain somewhat.

While in Phoenix, the 4 of us made dinner on Sunday night. Accompanied by a lovely spinach, mango, candied pecan and goat cheese salad by Elyse, Matt and I made ribs, and there was a request for the recipe. here it is! mmm.

prepare 2 racks of ribs (first, remove the connective tissue- read the weber book for how to do so- and then rub either with ground cumin or chinese 5 spice)

cover with marinade, and put in fridge for as long as possible (2 hours up to overnight)

turn grill to medium-low. While bbq is heating up, remove ribs from marinade and spatula all extra marinade into a saucepan. Boil for 3 minutes to kill all death-causing substances.

Put ribs on and grill for 1.5 hours, basting every 10-15 minutes with the marinade

oh, and be careful- hoisin has a high sugar content, so may lead to flare ups, and makes the grill a total mess. (Thanks to Doug, who (with the absence of bbq tools) scraped off the grill with a spinach box)

This is amazing- made exactly as written, but with some low-fat options. But simply stunning. And made enough for a small Vietnamese village. Definitely half if only two people!
We did some sea scallops with wine wine and butter with- amazing!
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Risotto-with-Leeks-Shiitake-Mushrooms-and-Truffles-239801
bon appetito! (As Mario Batali would say)

I’m particularly proud of this recipe, because it’s delicious, simple, fresh, relatively inexpensive, and completely original to me. (Well, I’m sure someone’s done something similar before, but I’m proud of it nonetheless.) If only it were quick, then I’d make it even more often than I already do. Ah well, you can’t have it all, I suppose.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 oranges

½ lemon

2 tsp curry

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp olive oil

1 clove minced garlic (optional)

Juice the oranges and lemon, and add the curry and brown sugar. Slice and pan-fry the chicken in the olive oil. Pour in citrus mixture (adding the garlic if you have any). Cover with a lid. Simmer on medium-low heat for 15 minute; uncover, stir, then cook 5 more minutes or so. Serve over rice and vegetables.

I made another Thomas Keller recipe yesterday (he is seriously my hero)- this is the “Herb Gnocchi with Butternut Squash and Mushrooms” from epicurious- I added some braised kale for texture and color. I made some small modifications, but otherwise, kept as is, and wow.

It was simply stunning- one of the best meals I have ever made. (and fun to say “pate de choux” about 500 times while I was making it!)

I have always loved Valentine’s Day. I was the girl who made 50 valentines for everyone in my class (the pre-made kind… but i’d attach candy!) I wanted to make something red/pinkish for Valentine’s Day and found a recipe for these lovely Raspberry Chocolate Scones.

I pretty much followed the recipe exactly (except I froze them and baked them in the morning).

Just to be ambitious, I figured I’d try making my own cinnamon buns. I wasn’t ambitious enough to do all the grunt work, though — I let the bread machine do all the rising and kneading. With a dollop of cream cheese icing on top, they made for some pretty amazing treats for my guest(s). Here’s the recipe I used, but I doubled the cinnamon mixture, and instead of the glaze I made some cream cheese icing that was equal parts cream cheese, butter, and icing sugar.